Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe

[rug]

National and religious identities converge in a region once dominated by atheist regimes



MAY 10, 2017

Roughly a quarter of a century after the fall of the Iron Curtain and subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, a major new Pew Research Center survey finds that religion has reasserted itself as an important part of individual and national identity in many of the Central and Eastern European countries where communist regimes once repressed religious worship and promoted atheism.

Today, solid majorities of adults across much of the region say they believe in God, and most identify with a religion. Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism are the most prevalent religious affiliations, much as they were more than 100 years ago in the twilight years of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires.

In many Central and Eastern European countries, religion and national identity are closely entwined. This is true in former communist states, such as the Russian Federation and Poland, where majorities say that being Orthodox or Catholic is important to being “truly Russian” or “truly Polish.” It is also the case in Greece, where the church played a central role in Greece’s successful struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire and where today three-quarters of the public (76%) says that being Orthodox is important to being “truly Greek.”

Many people in the region embrace religion as an element of national belonging even though they are not highly observant. Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often or consider religion central to their lives. For example, a median of just 10% of Orthodox Christians across the region say they go to church on a weekly basis.

http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/

Full report on pdf at link.

[guillaumeb]

1. I am waiting for the many responses "explaining"

how non-theism is gaining among millennials and the educated class.

[rug]

2. They're meeting off-site to get their stories straight.

[guillaumeb]

3. Not the super secret closed F###book site?

Understood. The unintended irony of some sig lines.

[Heddi]

4. it's not secret. The link has been posted many times

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1854317644790870/

[guillaumeb]

5. My apologies for calling it "super secret". eom

[rug]

6. Here's a gem. It's yours, is it not?

Charles Deville
March 22
What must it be like to have no free thought of your own? We know that, as an avowed religionist, you have limited brain capacity and no real sense of logic or reason. But for poor baby J and baby g, to not even be able to take a shit without getting the a-ok from papa roach....how sad. Does he tell you how many strokes to get in before you have a guilt-ridden cum, too?

I wonder who contributed this one:

Trotsky Rugpisser
The worst kind of believer is the self-righteous hypocrite, which Christianity seems to produce in copious quantities. People who behave like absolute dickwads but think they are either A) justified in doing so when battling heathens who refuse to genuflect, B) "Not perfect, just forgiven, tee hee!", or C) both of the above. I had thought maybe J had a tiny sense of decency at first, but when he stood by R's outrageous assholishness time and again, he exposed what kind of Christian he is. Same kind as R. Gullible is cut of the same cloth - so self-righteous and perfect (in his own eyes) and a total asswipe. But I'm sure he goes to church and is absolutely convinced of his holiness. Just like asshole R.
LikeShow more reactions · March 22 at 2:29pm · Edited

Not to mention this homophobic shit:

Charles Deville
March 22
I wonder how awesome it is for Fug and Baby G to suck each other's smeggy cocks while Baby J watches, his micro-chubby busting through his vestiments

Are you proud of this site, Heddi?

Oh, in case you forgot you made it, here's a reminder: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=243643
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1854317644790870/

[Heddi]

7. Um, I'm a lady and my name is not charles

I am a woman. My name is not Charles. Please stop slandering me with baseless lies.

[rug]

8. Nice try. Your name is Heddi, the author of this post announcing the creation of the site:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=243643

I'm not surprised you're trying to distance yourself from that filth. But you fool no one.

[Heddi]

9. So you post on DU... Does that mean you are the creator of it?

I had no idea that belonging to a group means you are the creator of that group.

[rug]

10. Oh, no. This is "all about you". You boasted it took you only five minutes to make.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=243653

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=243663

And you created it on February 1, 2017.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1854317644790870/members/

Do you really think you can pull off this charade?

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Makes sense.

If you tell people they are, or are not X, at gunpoint, they will likely revert to original identity when the gun or the person holding it is no longer a factor.

I do not lament these people reclaiming their identities after the fall of the Soviets. I desire to see a more secular world, but I'll be the first to stand and object if someone(s) try spreading it at the end of a gun barrel.

[rug]

12. I see it as the co-option of ideology.

Revolutionary atheism served its part in the decades after the Revolution, as Orthodoxy served its parts for centuries before. I do not look forward to its restoration.

It's not simply religious ideology but it's all ideologies.

But in the case of religious ideology, the closer the state and religions are linked the worse it is for both, and the populace.